'Up All Night' will become a multi-camera sitcom in 2013

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“Up All Night” changed its premise somewhat between its first and second seasons, dropping its workplace element and becoming a full-fledged family comedy. Now the NBC series is gearing up for an even bigger change.

The show, which has been a single-camera series until now, will change to a multi-camera, live-audience format later this season. The network has ordered three additional episodes — bringing its season total to 16 — and will put the show on a three-month hiatus to convert the show’s set and give the writers a chance to pen scripts, Deadline reports.

“Up All Night” executive producer Lorne Michaels reportedly proposed the format change as a way to inject more energy into the show. NBC went along without much hesitation.

“We know what the multi-camera audience does for the live episodes of ’30 Rock,’ plus after seeing [‘Up All Night’ stars] Maya [Rudolph] and Christina [Applegate] do ‘SNL’ within the past few months, we knew we had the kind of performers — Will Arnett included — who love the reaction from a live audience,” NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt tells Deadline. “We think we can make a seamless tradition to the new format. Also, we’re committed to the multi-camera form and this will give us another show to consider for next season.”

“Up All Night” is shooting its final single-camera episode this week. Those episodes will air into December, and the show will go back into production in its new format in February. The five multi-camera episodes will likely air in the spring.

There’s no word yet on how NBC will adjust its Thursday-night schedule while “Up All Night” is off. It has several comedies — including “Community” — on the bench for midseason.